Pictures: Earth in Crisis

Serious rays

Photo by AFP/Getty Images

A NASA photo shows a pair of active regions on the sun put on a show as seen in extreme ultraviolet light taken from a Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft on Feb. 7. The magnetic field lines above the regions produced fluttering arcs as well as a couple of flares.

A NASA photo shows a pair of active regions on the sun put on a show as seen in extreme ultraviolet light taken from a Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft on Feb. 7. The magnetic field lines above the regions produced fluttering arcs as well as a couple of flares. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of Monarch butterflies swarm a tree at a Mexico butterfly sanctuary. The Monarchs are the only migratory insects in their species. They travel 2500 miles twice a year between their summer home in Canada and their winter home in Mexico.

Hundreds of Monarch butterflies swarm a tree at a Mexico butterfly sanctuary. The Monarchs are the only migratory insects in their species. They travel 2500 miles twice a year between their summer home in Canada and their winter home in Mexico. (Photo by Felipe Courzo/Reuters)